Jenean M. Hampton is the 57th and current Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky since December 8, 2015 after having won office as Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin's running-mate, in the 2015 gubernatorial election. She is the first African-American to hold any statewide office in Kentucky history.

Raymond Burse, as of 2014, is the President of Kentucky State University. He is known for taking a $90,000 a year pay cut from his $350,000 salary so that his fellow employees could be paid a living wage. He had previously been the institution's president between 1982 and 1989, and later spent a decade as a senior executive at General Electric.

Thompson is the author of numerous books, including Peer to Peer Leadership: Changing Student Culture from the Ground Up; Thriving in the Community College & Beyond: Strategies for Academic Success and Personal Development; and Diversity and the College Experience.

He has more than 30 publications and numerous research and peer-reviewed presentations, and his research has been cited in popular publications such as Cosmopolitan, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel, and the Tampa Tribune. Thompson holds a doctorate in sociology in areas of organizational behavior and race and gender relations.